Michael Ignatieff Quotes

These books ain't window dressing. I think Machiavelli's the most sophisticated writer outside of Shakespeare. Way ahead of his time. Such a manipulative person. Everything he accomplished he did by kissin' ass.

The political tradition of ancient thought, filtered in Italy by Machiavelli, says one thing clearly: every prince needs allies, and the bigger the responsibility, the more allies he needs.

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

What this White House really needs is a chief of staff who can read Machiavelli in the original Italian.

It's foolish to call Chanakya an Indian Machiavelli. Rather, Machiavelli was possibly an Italian Chanakya.

I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.

I want to tell people to read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli - check that one out. It's just changed my attack so - I think so much more inwardly.

In order to achieve the most noble accomplishments, the leader may have to 'enter into evil.' This is the chilling insight that has made Machiavelli so feared, admired, and challenging. It is why we are drawn to him still.

A universal applause is seldom less than two thirds of a scandal

Hillary Clinton ought to be ashamed of herself.

Anyone buying this book is going to be out a tidy sum if he is sucked in by the title. I wish I could write a real sexy book that would be barred from the mails. Apparently nothing whets a reader's appetite for literature more than the news that the author has been thrown into a federal pokey for disturbing the libido of millions of Americans.

Do you believe this is simply trickle-down Machiavellianism in much the same way that Communism trickled down as an aberration of its original intent?

Wayne LaPierre once was on the ABC Sunday show, This Week with David Brinkley. He said, "You know, I think President [Bill] Clinton is comfortable with a certain level of violence because it helps him advance his agenda." This is 1990. The media, everyone lost their minds over that.

Richard Strauss--Old Home Week in Gomorrah

We must ask the high cadres ... When you suppressed the rights of others to express freely their political views, did you secure your own?

The big scandal was when I was in seventh grade and I modeled a bathing suit. Everybody freaked out!

The princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises.

Some people only speak of freedom of speech while they're out of power. Once they're in power, they're ruthless in suppressing the rights of others.

Banned! My eyes light up, I think I see stars. Anything that has been banned by anyone must be something I’d like.

I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch Cosby Show reruns.

Did Bill Clinton actually think that he could get blow jobs from a Jewish woman and there would be no consequences?

Nipples aren't killing children. They should be more concerned about the wars that are happening. There's so much violence in the world. There are so many legitimate things to be upset about besides nipples.

[N]o one's ever been able to show me any difference between democracy and brute force. It's just a majority ganging up on a minority with the minority giving in to avoid getting massacred.

All the excitements of a prohibited book had their usual effect, one of which, as always, is to expose the fact that the censors don't know what they are talking about.

(A ruler) cannot and should not keep his word when to do so would go against his interests or when the reason he pledged it no longer holds.